Honest Domesticity
by AmyVS7
Summary: Natasha is hurt on a mission and it's almost her birthday. Can Steve and Natasha be honest with themselves that they aren't just team mates to each other anymore.
1. Chapter 1

**Honest Domesticity**

 **Avengers fic**

 **Disclaimer: **I don't own Marvel.

 **Spoilers/Set: **Avengers Assemble & Captain America The Winter Soldier. Set pre Avengers Age of Ultron, but post CA Winter Soldier.

 **Summary: **Natasha is hurt on a mission and it's almost her birthday. Can Steve and Natasha be honest with themselves that they aren't just team mates to each other anymore.

 **Honest Domesticity**

The team of Avengers were fighting off midnight black flying Kinrets in the depths of the Canadian Wilderness, the alien species had partially destroyed a local town and were on the outskirts of another. Stark and Thor were the ones monitoring and fighting off the ones at the perimeters of the Kinrets lair. Hawkeye was up in the trees shooting arrows at the ones who had chosen to fly, but could also target the ones on the ground if necessary. Whilst Captain America and Black Widow were fighting the ones nearby on the ground. Hulk had been causing more damage to the wilderness himself, so had been sent a bit further away from the team, to catch any rogue ones that Stark could see from the sky.

"Stark, how we looking up top?" yelled Steve over the coms, as he dodged a jet beam of light coming towards him.

"Better!" Stark answered "They have slowed down a bit, but still coming steadily. Thor's doing most of the donkey work with the hammer and lightning."

Thor looked a little baffled "Donkey? What is donkey?"

Stark sighed "Have you not read that animal book we got you yet?!"

"Guys we haven't got time for a lesson in old McDonald had a farm right now!" Natasha shouted over the coms.

"Alright, alright, Miss Temper! Chill out!" Stark joked back to her, safe in the knowledge that she couldn't hurt him from the few miles he was from the master assassin.

Steve saw Natasha about to retaliate, but he gave her a stern look and much to his own surprise she backed down, and Cap said calmly.

"Nat, it's not worth it."

Natasha nodded and then ran at a Kinret that attempted to charge her, and she knocked it out with one of her batons. Steve battled another with his shield and with one swift hit of his shield, the Kinret was down. He shot a quick glance around to check for any more in his vicinity, only for another Kinret to come up from behind a tree and shoot a jet of light out of it's mouth, straight at Natasha. The Black Widow saw it and dodged it, but was not quite quick enough and it caught her ankle. She keeled over in a scream of pain.

"Natasha!" Steve cried, and quickly hurried over to her.

Hawkeye, also spotting what had happened, shot an arrow right at the Kinret that had attacked her. Killing it dead.

"Nat, come on talk to me" Steve said, as Natasha was sat on the floor clutching at her ankle, tears dripping down her face.

"Steve…" she said in barely a scared whisper, before she passed out cold and Steve caught her before she hit the ground.

"Natasha?" he tried to wake her up but to no avail. "Natasha's down" Steve told the team over the coms. "Clint! How we doing, is there any more of them near us?"

Hawkeye gave another glance around the area, where he could see Steve cradling Natasha below.

"No we're clear for now. I'll get the quinjet started up."

"Thank-you" Steve said to him before addressing the others "Stark, Thor, I want you both and Banner to stay here and fight the rest of them off, Clint and I will take Natasha back to base."

"Not a problem" Stark replied "Is Nat okay?"

"She's still breathing, she's just out cold and her ankle looks broken to me. Are you sure you're going to be okay? I'll send an emergency quinjet to come and get you guys, and with a back-up team if needed."

"Shouldn't be a problem, Steve" Thor told him "What about Banner?"

"Just keep an eye on him, let him know what's happening. Any problems let us know and me and Clint will come back. Stark, I hate saying this but I'm leaving you in charge. But Thor, make sure he doesn't step out of line."

Thor chuckled "I will keep a watch on Stark."

"Hey, I can be a serious leader when needed y'know" Stark stressed.

Thor reassured Steve "We'll be fine, there's not many of them left now. We've got this under control."

Hawkeye interrupted them over the coms, now from the quinjet.

"Steve, the quinjet is ready. Can you bring Natasha here? I won't be able to land this thing close to you guys without destroying some of this forest."

"Yeah we'll be there now" Steve carefully lifted his friend from the ground.

Natasha was still unconscious, and Steve ran as fast as he could to the clearing with her in his arms, dodging the odd jet of light from the Kinrets that were still targeting them.

He got Natasha onto the quinjet and they took off, Steve now securing Natasha onto the stretcher and watching her for any sign of consciousness.

Within twenty minutes, Natasha's eyes fluttered open to see Steve's bright blue eyes staring worriedly back at her.

"Steve?" she whispered quietly.

"Hey, you're awake" Steve said lovingly, gazing down at her from where he was standing next to her stretcher.

"What…what happened?" Natasha asked with confusion on her face, seconds before the pain of her ankle kicked in and she winced.

"You were hit in the ankle, and you passed out. Clint and I are taking you back to the tower."

Natasha made to sit up, but her head was still aching so she quickly decided against it.

"Why? I could've stayed on the jet until we got rid of all those Kinret things."

"Well you passed out, and you were hit with a weapon that is non-human in origin and it managed to break you ankle, so I'm not taking any chances."

Natasha gave him a small smile "You're too good to me, Steve. Thank-you. I don't deserve it."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that, eh?" Steve said softly, smiling at her reassuringly.

Natasha smiled back up at him, and took hold of Steve's hand, which he had had resting on the stretcher she was lying on. Steve looked at her in surprise at her action, but he was content in holding her hand if that is what made her feel better.

The two of them still continuing to smile at each other, and their holding hands, had not gone un-noticed by Clint, who had heard and seen the whole exchange, as he had turned around from piloting the quinjet.

He gave a cough "Uh, guys, we're not too far from the tower. Medical is waiting for our arrival, how're you feeling Nat?"

Natasha and Steve broke their eye contact, but remained holding hands.

"Head is still a bit fuzzy, and my ankle is killing. Are there any painkillers I can have?"

Steve left her to find the medical supplies, and got her some medication to relieve the pain. Natasha had taken Steve's hand again after the medication had kicked in, before then dozing for the remainder of their journey. Steve sitting in a seat next to her, watching her quietly as she slept. Steve knew she was going to be okay, but he couldn't stop worrying about her. Maybe a little too much he thought, but he couldn't help himself.

Clint signalled their arrival a while later, and the medical team got Natasha into the medical bay of the Avengers tower. Steve still holding onto Natasha's hand as they wheeled her on the stretcher and into the tower. He let go as soon as she was inside, and he instructed Clint to go with her, whilst he got an evacuation jet sent to pick up the rest of the team.

...

Upon his arrival at the medical bay a while later, Steve saw Natasha sat up on the edge of the examination table. She was in the room on her own and she gave a smile as he walked in.

"Hey, you alright? What's the verdict?" Steve asked, before closing the door behind him and walking over to stand in front of her.

Natasha shrugged "Broken ankle, a few scratches and bruises, nothing serious. Got to keep this cast on for a while for it to heal" she motioned to her left ankle.

"What about the Kinret jet that hit your ankle, it's not done any other damage to you?" Steve looked concerned.

Natasha shook her head "No, the jet shattered my ankle bone completely, it was just such a powerful electrical jet that the pain of that made me faint. But don't ever tell Stark I passed out from just pain, he won't let me hear the end of it."

Steve sat next to her on the examination table, a sympathetic look on his face.

"Since when do you start paying any attention to what Stark says to you, eh?"

Natasha looked glum "I don't normally, but since I'm in a cast and I'm also going to be using these for a week while the bone heals" she pointed to the set of crutches leant up against the bed "He's going to lay it on like a trowel."

Steve put his hand on her back gently "I'll deal with Tony, don't you worry. And before you say anything, you are off any missions for at least a month now whilst you heal properly."

"Oh Steve, come on!" Natasha moaned, turning to him "Jill says it'll only take a week for the bone to heal completely, you know how the technology is now with Bruce and his team working wonders. I'll be fine after then. I can't take a month off!"

"Yes you can, and you will. Captain's orders." He tried not to laugh as Natasha gave a huff of annoyance. "Come on, don't you want to get some rest and have some down time?"

"No" Natasha said simply, in the annoyed tone of a grumpy teenager.

Steve couldn't help but laugh this time "Come on, I'll help you to your floor and it's bed rest for you, Romanoff."

Natasha stood up and started to get used to her crutches to get her around. Once Steve got her to the lift, she stressed she would be fine on her own and went to her floor to go and get some rest.

…

An hour or so later, Steve was busy talking to Maria Hill, when they saw the rescue quinjet arrive back at the tower. Stark, Banner and Thor all walked out looking rather battered and bruised, but all still walking with ease, with no apparent injuries.

"What's the update guys?" Steve asked.

"The Kinrets have been eliminated, none to be found anywhere. Jarvis scanned the area thoroughly and there are none left alive. So I think that's a job well done" Stark said with a grin on his face "I think a whisky is in order!"

"Hold fire a second, Tony" Maria told him, tablet in hand "We need to talk through the clean up operation first."

Tony groaned "Oh do we have to do that now?"

Everyone laughed, before Maria continued "Yes we do, Steve's informed me of everything he can, but as you guys were the last ones there, I need to complete the report."

"I will gladly assist you, Hill" Thor told her "But firstly what of Natasha? What calls of her medical status?"

"Oh yes, I must see how Red is first" Tony made to rush off to find her, but Steve held him back.

"Oh no you don't! Natasha is okay, she's broken her ankle and is resting in her room." Steve then directed his next words more towards Tony than to Bruce or Thor "So you do not disturb her, okay? She's got a cast on her ankle and she will be on crutches for a week. So don't you go making fun of her, Stark. I mean it."

"Me? Make fun of her?" Tony looked stunned at the suggestion "What would make you think I'd do that?"

Steve just raised his eyebrows, and said firmly "Just leave her be, she needs to rest."

Stark smirked and folded his arms as he said to the Avengers leader "You're getting rather over-protective of Natasha lately, Cap. People will start talking y'know."

This tactic didn't work on Steve, who continued with his firm tone of voice to Tony.

"Just go with Hill, or I'll let Pepper know you are picking on Natasha."

A look of horror spread over Tony's face, before he instantly smiled at Maria and made her walk with him, quickly beginning to talk about the mission.

The other guys laughed, as they watched the two of them walk away.

"Very well done Steve" remarked Thor "I need to remember to use Pepper as his last warning. It worked very well indeed."

"It works every single time" laughed Steve.

...

It was now early evening and Steve, Tony, Bruce, Clint, Thor, Maria, and even Pepper, who was now home from work, were all sat around the living-room a few minutes in to watching a movie. They were all eating pizza that they had ordered, as well as drinking beers and having a good laugh.

The laughter was soon interrupted by Thor's loud voice, when he saw a certain red-headed assassin coming down the stairs.

"Natasha has risen!"

Everyone looked towards the stairs, and saw Natasha coming to join them all. She was now wearing her pyjamas, consisting of a black vest top and black shorts, her flaming short red hair left down. She was trying her best to make her way down the stairs, using her one hand on the banister to steady herself, and the other holding both crutches, as she tried to hop on her good foot down the steps. She seemed to be struggling a bit, but was trying her best to hide it.

Steve had been sitting with his back to the stairs, but as soon as he had heard Thor call out Natasha's name, he had turned around to see her heading their way. He automatically got up and said "Here, Nat, let me help you."

Natasha was barely three steps down onto the stairs, when Steve came up and helped her for a couple more. Then he said "Here, stand still a second."

Steve put the crutches down that he had been holding for her, and Natasha gave a slight frown as to what Steve was planning.

And much to everyone's surprise, including Natasha who squealed in shock, Steve scooped her up into his arms and carried her down the stairs.

"Steve, you don't need to carry me!" Natasha half protested and half laughed.

"You really are a true gentleman, Steve" Pepper told him sweetly, much to Tony's eye rolling. Steve couldn't be any more predictable if he tried.

Steve placed Natasha gently down on the spare seat on the sofa next to him, then went back up the stairs to get her crutches and brought them to the living area, chucking them on the floor nearby. He put a spare cushion on the coffee table and moved it slightly closer to Natasha, lifting her broken ankle gently and placing it on the cushion so she was comfy, before he took his seat next to her on the sofa.

"Thank-you" Natasha smiled lovingly at the Avengers leader, touching his leg for the briefest moment, before he handed her a beer.

"Question" Stark raised with Steve "If I broke my ankle, would you be as attentive to me as you're being with Romanoff?"

"No, for the main reason that I like Natasha more than you" Steve joked with a cheeky smirk.

Tony pretended to look hurt, as the rest of the team laughed, and Pepper patted Tony's arm sweetly and kissed his cheek, which perked him up immensely.

"How're you feeling now?" Bruce asked Natasha, drawing the attention back to their injured team member.

"Yeah a lot better thanks, I needed that sleep it seems. Why didn't you guys wake me?"

"Steve warned us off" Tony sulked.

"Correction, I warned _you_ off" Steve said, taking a swig of his own beer.

"Hey, I was just as concerned as everyone else" Tony attempted to say sincerely, but failed miserably.

Maria laughed "You just wanted to get away from helping with the final report!"

"That doesn't surprise me at all!" Natasha said sarcastically, as she took the slice of pizza that Steve had handed to her "But I'm on the mend guys, and now I just want to eat my pizza in peace and watch whatev…oh god not Titanic again!"

"Pepper's choice!" Tony shouted loudly, pointing at the woman in question sat next to him on the sofa.

Pepper hit him lightly on the arm "Hey, you know I love this movie, and it's my night to pick, so shut it."

Tony looked stunned "It was Widow complaining not me, why are you having a go at me?!"

"Just easier" Pepper laughed, as did the others, before she turned to Natasha "Sorry Nat, do you want me to pick something else?"

"No, it's okay. I'll probably fall asleep to whatever we watch anyway, not feeling all that alert."

The movie progressed, the pizza was eaten and the alcohol was drunk as the night wore on. Everyone had been crying at some stage of the film, even Natasha who snuck a tissue off Steve, who was the only one who had noticed she was crying. He put his arm around her and she leaned in to him to continue watching the film after that. Everyone noticed this at some point, and a smile lit up their faces at seeing them like this. By the end of the film, Natasha was true to her own prediction, as she had indeed fallen fast asleep, and had remained that way for the last half an hour of the film. She would learn to later regret this, as she missed the opportunity of seeing Tony in a flood of tears at the infamous driftwood scene.

As the credits rolled, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Pepper, can we not watch that again for a long while? I can't cope!" Bruce told her, as he was wiping his eyes.

"Oh you big cry baby!" Tony joked to his best friend, who was sat next to him.

"You're a fine one to talk Tony, you cried more than me!" Pepper laughed, before she had a look at Natasha cuddled right up to Steve, her head resting in the crook of his neck as she slept. Steve with his arm around her.

"Aww look at her, bless her. She must still be so tired, has she been asleep long?" Pepper asked Steve.

Steve gazed down briefly at Natasha, sleeping peacefully, before looking up to answer Pepper in a whisper "Almost half an hour I'd say."

"Do you want me to help her to bed?" Pepper continued.

"No, it's okay I'll deal with her" Steve reassured her.

"Right then, bed time I think" Stark said as he got up off the sofa "But not before…" he got out his phone and quickly took a picture of Natasha and Steve in their very cute couple position on the sofa, before hurrying out of the room as Steve threatened to chuck him off the Avengers tower if he didn't delete the photo. Pepper promised Steve she would have a word with Tony, as she too left the room.

Maria then headed on home, before Thor and Bruce bid everyone goodnight too, both of them left as quietly as they could so as not to wake their sleeping Avenger team mate. As the boys left, Steve gently tried to wake Natasha, who eventually woke up and groaned at being awoken, and tried to snuggle closer to Steve, before realising that she was indeed cuddling up to Captain America, and she sat up with a blush on her cheeks.

"Oh, Steve, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep against you."

Steve chuckled "It's okay, come on everyone's gone to bed. Think you ought to as well."

"Yeah he's right" Clint told her, as he too got up off one of the other sofas in the room.

Natasha rubbed her eyes in tiredness "Could you pass me my crutches?"

Steve gave Natasha her crutches and she got up off the sofa, and became unbalanced and fell back onto the sofa. All three of them laughed.

"I had two beers! I swear I'm not drunk" Natasha laughed in slight frustration "This lack of an ankle thing is difficult to get used to!"

"Tell you what, I'll carry you if you want?" Steve offered, even surprising himself at his offer "But this will be the last time, I won't make a habit of it."

Natasha laughed "You don't have to Steve, I can do it myself."

"Go on Nat, you're tired enough already" Clint urged, as he came closer to them both "Save you using the crutches trying to get up the stairs and all the way over to the lifts."

Natasha sighed as she guessed Clint made a fair point, and for once she was too tired to argue.

"Alright, just this last time. But don't say anything to anyone else, or I'll be the laughing stock of the team for many weeks!"

"Don't worry, they'd more likely make fun of me for it than you anyway" Steve told her, as he stood up from the sofa "Come on then Romanoff, off we go!" Steve said with a grin, as he picked Natasha up into his arms, and walked off.

Clint following in their wake with the crutches in his hands.

"At least I can skip weight training in the morning now" Steve said jokingly, and Natasha hit him slightly on the chest. She could hear Clint laughing behind them at Steve's remark.

"Oi! Don't you be taking notes off Clint and Stark! I won't have you being influenced by them, don't lower yourself to their level."

"Oh thank-you very much" Clint added, dripping in sarcasm. "That'll never happen anyway, Steve is too much of a gentleman. He's old school, we can't mould him to be like me or Stark. Believe me we've tried."

"Just shut it the pair of you" Steve chuckled "We're almost at your floor now."

Once they reached Natasha's floor, Steve put Natasha carefully onto her bed and she smiled up at him.

"Thank-you Steve, I appreciate how helpful you've been to me today." She took his hand "We really have got the best team leader."

Steve smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek "Thank-you, and you're very welcome. If you have any problems in the night or whatever, let me know, okay?"

"Will do" Natasha smiled, giving his hand a slight squeeze "Goodnight."

"Night Natasha, sweet dreams."

Steve left the room, with Hawkeye now stood in the doorway, he also said goodnight to the Black Widow and he put the crutches next to her bed so she could reach them, before he closed the door and caught up to Steve at the lifts.

"Y'know, it's very sweet" Clint said, with a knowing smile on his face.

"What is?" Steve looked confused.

"You and Natasha."

"What do you mean?" Steve wondered with a baffled look, as they got into the lift and pressed the buttons for their respective floors.

"I mean you two have been all lovey-dovey for weeks now, and what happened today has only added to that. When are you going to admit you like her?"

"I don't like her…not in the way you think anyway."

"Oh come on Steve, I know I'm a bit dense about these kind of things, but this is so obvious! And for the record, I think you'd be great together."

Clint smiled, and gave a wink at the Avengers leader as he got out of the lift to his floor.

Leaving Captain America still in the lift, with a dumbfounded look on his face.

…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Natasha awoke the next morning, and she groaned as the pain of her ankle became apparent. Jill was one of their best medical scientists and doctors that had been working with Bruce in the tower, and Natasha was so grateful that they had developed the technology to be able to heel bone in seven days, but for now she was just aggravated at having to use the crutches to keep getting around. She thought back to yesterday and how sweet and attentive Steve had been, and as she got up and used her crutches to use the bathroom, she wished he was around to help her out.

"Morning, how're you feeling?" Pepper asked her, as Natasha made her way into the kitchen for breakfast.

Natasha groaned "My ankle is still hurting, and these stupid crutches aren't making me feel any better." She looked around at a rather empty room. "Where is everyone? Have I missed breakfast?"

"Yeah sorry Nat, we've all had ours. Tony and Bruce are in the lab. Clint is in the training room with Thor, and Steve has gone out for a run. Not to worry though, I can make you some breakfast before I go?"

"No, no, it's okay, you've got to go to work. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay."

"You sure? I can call one of the boys to make you something?"

"No I'll just have some toast, then go back to bed for a bit."

Pepper smiled "Alright Nat, I'll see you when I'm back from work. And when I come home, let me know what you'd like me to plan for your birthday next week."

Pepper left the Avengers tower, leaving Natasha to making her toast with jam whilst thinking about her upcoming birthday, which she was not all that looking forward to. Once Natasha ate her breakfast, and went to say a quick hello to the boys in the lab and in the training room, she retired to her private living area to relax for a while. Not long later, Steve had returned from his run, got showered and changed before going to see what everyone was up to. His first stop being Natasha.

As he arrived onto her floor, he could hear her singing to 'Hold my Hand' by Jess Glynne on the radio. She was sat on her sofa with her back to the door, and Steve leant against the door frame of the room, and watched her with a smile as she sung.

The song ended after a minute, and Steve walked into the room whilst saying "Well, I think we've found the next American Idol" he beamed.

Natasha gave a cry of fright "You scared me!"

Steve fained shock "I managed to creep up on the Black Widow without being noticed! Wow, there's a first!"

"Hey, I'm currently injured, cut me some slack" she motioned to her injured ankle, which was resting on a cushion on her coffee table in front of the sofa, she then smiled "You're in a good mood?!"

"Hard not to be when I hear you singing like that, you're a great singer, Nat."

Natasha smiled, shyly "Thank-you, I do love a bit of singing and karaoke. Not that many people know I love singing."

"Why not? If I had a voice like that I'd be showing it off!" Steve said, as he sat closely next to her on the sofa to talk to her.

Natasha raised her eyebrows "Well it doesn't really go with the whole tough Black Widow image."

"We're all allowed to have our hobbies and interests outside our job y'know Nat. Everyone knows I like to draw" Steve reminded her "And that's not exactly something you would expect from a _superhero_." He even used the air quotes at the word superhero, much to Natasha's amusement.

Natasha laughed "Since when do you use the whole air quote thing?"

"I don't really, but Darcy taught it to me the last time she was here."

Natasha's eyes lit up at the mention of Jane's intern "That reminds me, I need to invite her and Jane, and Sam too, to my birthday thing next week."

"What have you planned?" Steve asked keenly.

"Nothing yet, Pepper was asking me about it this morning."

"Well I'd think a bit sharpish about it if I were you. You know what Pepper and Tony are like at organising parties, they will go to town if you let them."

Natasha gave a disgruntled look "I know, but I'd rather just have everyone chilling out here than going out and do anything."

"That's alright, we can have a nice dinner here and some drinks. It'll be fun."

Natasha sighed "I'd rather not do anything really, I hate all the fuss."

"I know you do, but as Avengers leader I have a duty to make sure my favourite assassin is celebrated on her birthday."

Natasha laughed, and a smile beamed on her face "Favourite assassin? Don't let Clint hear you say that, he'll be upset."

"Ah he'll get over it" Steve smirked "So what would you like for a present?"

Natasha shook her head "I'm good, I don't want anything."

Steve chuckled, knowing she would give this response "Not the answer I wanted, but I'll think of something."

"Honestly Steve, I really appreciate the thought, but I'm happy with everything I have." Natasha said, genuinely meaning it and smiling at Steve "Plus, I have the best family around me, so what more could I need?" she took hold of his hands, which had been resting on his leg.

Steve smiled, this hand holding thing was becoming a lot more frequent, but he wasn't complaining in the slightest. He thought back to Clint's comments to him last night. Steve was getting the distinct impression Natasha potentially liked him, as more than just friends and team mates, and if he was truly honest with himself, he knew deep down that he had fallen for the Black Widow. Wholeheartedly.

Without much thought going in to his next move, he reached across and kissed her cheek.

"I'll let you get some rest Nat, I'll see you later."

...

"So, how's your girlfriend, she feeling any better?" Stark asked the Captain, as he walked into the lab a few moments later.

"If you are referring to Natasha then _one_ , she is not my girlfriend and _two_ , she is still in quite a lot of pain, but I suppose that's to be expected."

Bruce nodded "Yeah, unfortunately, but I checked on her earlier and the ankle is healing well, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Well if you kiss her better, she may recover quicker" Tony joked to Steve, who eyed him with a stern look.

Bruce took pity on Steve "Ignore him Steve, he's winding you up."

"Nothing new there" Steve rolled his eyes "Anyway, Natasha is the reason I'm here. I was thinking about what we should get her for her birthday, any ideas?"

"Well I was going to see if she wanted any amendments made to her suit" Tony said, twiddling a pen in his hands "But as you told me her floor is off limits to me, even though this is _my own tower_ , I can't go and ask her about that idea."

Steve rolled his eyes "Go and see her in a minute once you're done here, she's awake and in a good mood, so I think you'll be safe."

"What did you have in mind, Steve?" Bruce brought the question back to the matter in hand.

"Well I was thinking we could get her one of those karaoke machine things?"

"I didn't know Natasha liked singing?" Bruce wondered with surprise.

"Are you kidding, she loves it!" Stark laughed "I always catch her singing around this place. Never knew she was a karaoke fan mind, she's a dark horse that one."

"Well I think it's a great idea" Bruce grinned.

"We could have a karaoke party or something on her birthday next Friday, but pretend it's just a dinner, so make it a bit of surprise?" Steve suggested.

"Yeah and we could invite Sam, he loves karaoke" Bruce mentioned "And I'm sure Thor can ask Jane and Darcy to come along."

"Better get planning this party then, I'll call Pepper!" Tony said excitedly.

Once Steve went to talk to Clint and Thor about the surprise karaoke element of Natasha'a birthday, and the present idea, he went off to make some lunch for Natasha and brought it to her in her room.

"Nat, I made you some pasta salad" Steve said, as he walked in with a bowl of it.

Natasha was still sat on the sofa, with her foot up on the coffee table, now watching Jurassic Park.

"Aw thank-you Steve, you didn't have to do that."

"It's okay, I made a bit too much if I'm honest, and as you are re-cooperating it may as well be you who has the rest with me." He then frowned at the television "What are you watching, are those dinosaurs?"

"Yeah, it's Jurassic Park, there isn't much on but this is a classic."

"Really? I've never seen it" Steve said, which earned a gasp from the female Avenger.

"Then I insist you sit and watch it with me" she patted the space on the sofa next to her, and Steve sat down with his bowl of pasta salad too. And they watched the film together.

Steve thoroughly enjoyed it, and not just the film. He was so content with being in Natasha's company, she was a lot more relaxed around him when they were having down time like this. She would be a lot more open with her thoughts, and she was not afraid to show her softer and more emotional side to Steve, especially when the other guys weren't around. Steve felt very lucky that he was able to see this side of the Black Widow, it was something he wasn't taking for granted. And he appreciated every day that she let him in a little more.

Natasha knew her feelings towards Steve had changed. Sure she had always liked Steve as a team member, and they got along very well, but since the whole ordeal with the Winter Soldier, and them all living together in the Avengers tower, they had gotten a lot closer. Natasha felt like she could be truly herself around him, and she knew he wouldn't judge her or make fun of her for saying or doing the wrong thing. He respected her as a person, and he respected her opinions. He treated her as an equal, and that's what she liked most about him. His incredible muscles weren't that bad to look at either, she couldn't help but think. The first day she saw him without his shirt on took her breath away, but deep down his looks were just an added bonus. Natasha knew Steve was the best leader the Avengers would ever have, and sure he had to make tough decisions, but she knew she could always rely on him to do the right thing, and he always put everyone else before himself. He was so kind and attentive towards her, and she knew she had fallen hook line and sinker for Captain America. She was just scared to say anything in case he didn't feel what she felt.

Little did she know that Steve was battling with the same thoughts in his head about her.

"So, I was talking to the guys earlier" Steve started as the film ended "And we thought that maybe we could all have a nice dinner here for your birthday next Friday if you want? I know you said you didn't want a big fuss."

Natasha smiled up at Steve, from where she was slightly slouched down on the coach.

"Yeah, I'd really like that. Thank-you. Can we invite the girls and Sam too?"

"Of course, Thor's been wanting Jane to visit for a while, and you know Darcy will come, any excuse for a get together" they chuckled "Same too for Sam for that matter. I'll call them later."

"Good, I'm really looking forward to it" Natasha shifted herself slightly, moving upright on the sofa.

"Right, well I'd best leave you to it then. Thanks for letting me watch the film with you" Steve made to get up, but Natasha grabbed hold of his arm.

"No, stay. I'd like you to stay" Natasha said, with an almost pleading look in her eyes.

"Why do you want me to stay?" Steve asked her, with a curious look on his face.

"You're good company, I like having you around" Natasha was almost blushing, and she tried her best to hide it from Steve. "Come on, stay, for me?"

"Well" Steve said, whilst sitting back down next to her "Can't say no now can I?" he chuckled before Natasha shifted a bit closer to him, and Steve automatically put his arm around her, as Natasha put on Jurassic Park 2.

...

Thor knocked on the door of Natasha's living-room a while later.

"May I enter?" he asked in his deep voice.

Natasha and Steve turned around from where they were cuddling on the sofa, and smiled.

"Of course Thor, what's up?" Natasha asked with a smile.

"I am sorry for intruding on your private time with Steve."

The two of them laughed this off quickly, and moved slightly apart on the sofa, realising what this must have looked like to Thor.

Natasha raised her eyebrows "Private time? It's not private Thor, anyone can join us, we're just watching a film."

"Oh I am sorry, forgive me. Barton told me you two were having private time, so that is what I assumed..."

"Just ignore Barton" Natasha told him seriously "I'll deal with him later, just don't tell him I said anything" Natasha smiled at the God of thunder.

The worried look on Thor's face was replaced by a smile at her comment, then a frown as he looked at the television.

"What are those creatures? Who is under attack?" Thor looked genuinely concerned.

Steve was quick to reassure him "It's okay Thor. They are dinosaurs, they roamed Earth millions of years ago. It's just a movie."

Natasha then added "Do you remember when Steve and Bruce took you to the American Museum of Natural History a while ago? They have that exhibit about them."

"Oh yes of course, I will have to go there again soon. Maybe Jane would like to go with me when she comes to New York." He gave a thoughtful pause "Which reminds me, is she invited to your birthday feast next week?"

Natasha chuckled "I don't think it'll be a feast, but yes of course she is invited, and Darcy too."

"That's great, Jane will be very pleased."

"Was that what you came in to ask me, Thor?" Natasha wondered with a smile, realising they hadn't got to the matter of hand.

"Apologies, but I wanted to know if you needed anything from the store? Barton wants to go and I want more of those pop-tart delicacies."

Natasha shook her head and also chuckled at Thor's thinking of pop-tarts being delicacies.

"No I'm good thank-you. Do you need anything Steve?"

"No I'm alright thanks."

"Well I had best leave now or Barton will be firing arrows at me again." And Thor strode out of the room and left them alone.

"See ya buddy" Steve replied and turned back to Natasha "Poor Thor, bless him. The guys take advantage of him too much."

"Ah I'll see to Stark and Barton, don't you worry" Natasha said gleefully.

Steve laughed "I look forward to that!"

...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

It was a week later and Natasha found Steve sat in the Avengers living-room, reading a book, when she approached him quietly from behind and put her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" she said, playfully.

"You're lucky I recognise your voice, Romanoff. Or I'd be flinging you onto this coach, and pinning you down in attack mode."

"A girl can dream" Natasha said cheekily, as she removed her hands to walk around to face Steve, whose initial thoughts at her comment were wiped clean as he saw she was now walking unaided.

"You're walking on your own?!" he said, excitedly, whilst discarding his book onto the sofa.

"Yep, Bruce has given me a clean bill of health. I can walk on it and even run if needed."

"Oh no, no running for at least a few days. I trust Bruce's medical opinion, but just keep the running to a minimum for now."

Natasha raised her eyebrows "But I can still do combat training though, right?"

"Don't see why not" Steve grinned.

Natasha matched his smile and pulled him up off the sofa by his arm "Come on then, Captain, I need a training buddy."

Steve was dragged to the training room and he helped to train Natasha, but he didn't push her too hard, despite her pleads for him to keep challenging her more. After an hour of training, she conceded that Steve was right in that she shouldn't go to her full capacity yet, she was now very drained.

"I hate it when you're right" Natasha said, grabbing a drink from her water bottle.

Steve laughed "Come on, we both need to get in the shower and then we'll have dinner."

"That a promise?" Natasha flirted with the Captain.

Steve turned to Natasha, somewhat shocked at her comment, but also couldn't help himself "You play your cards right, Romanoff."

And he walked off with a smile on his face, heading for the men's changing area.

Natasha looking equally surprised, and chuckled at his response, before heading to the female changing area of the training floor.

"Bet you ten dollars they will be together by the end of Natasha's birthday tomorrow" Clint said to Bruce.

The two of them had come down to see where their two Avenger team mates were, and had heard their conversation, as they were stood near the doorway.

"I would take you up on that bet, Clint, if I didn't agree with you completely."

...

Natasha's birthday dawned the next day, and everyone was treated to a pancake breakfast, cooked by Steve. Clint then went training with her in the morning, followed by Stark taking the team out to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. The afternoon consisted of just hanging around and getting ready for the party in the evening.

Natasha was the last one of the team to arrive for dinner that evening. She was dressed in a floor length black dress, with a low cut front. She was wearing ruby red lipstick and she had on high stiletto black heels. Her flaming red hair was curled and let down as usual. When she arrived from the lift, and the group spotted her approaching, there was a wolf whistle from Clint, and Steve just stood there with his mouth open like a fish.

"You scrub up well, Nat" Clint told her as he gave her a hug.

"Yeah not bad at all, Romanoff" Stark told her, before he spotted Steve gawking at her and chuckled. "Cat got your tongue, Steve?"

Natasha turned to the Captain and smiled lovingly at him.

"You look beautiful" Steve said softly and kissed her cheek, and gave her a hug.

"Thank-you" Natasha replied quietly into his ear.

"You all scrub up well too" Natasha told the boys, as she noticed they were all dressed smartly in shirts and formal trousers and shoes.

"One must make an effort for a celebration" Thor told the birthday girl.

Everyone was very excited to see Jane, Darcy, Sam and Maria who all turned up dressed smartly a few moments later, with Pepper being last at the party as she had been working late. They sat down to dinner that had been prepared by some chefs that Tony had hired for the night. Then it was time for Natasha to receive her present.

Night time was upon them now, and Natasha, Steve, Tony, Pepper, Thor, Bruce, Maria, Jane, Darcy, Sam and Clint, were now all gathered in the living-room area of the Avengers Tower.

"Now, Natasha, I know you didn't want anything for your birthday" Pepper told her as she stood next to a box covered in a black cloth "but we couldn't let the day go without getting you something. And so we all clubbed together, and we got you this." Pepper removed the black cloth that had been hiding the karaoke machine.

Natasha laughed "Oh my god, I love it! Thank-you guys."

"It's the best one you can get" Stark told her "Plus I've tweaked it slightly so Jarvis can have access to it, and if it doesn't contain the song we want then Jarvis can add it in."

"So it's like a box version of iTunes then?" Darcy chuckled.

"Pretty much, yeah" Tony agreed.

"So we thought we could have a karaoke party tonight to finish off your birthday, what do you think?" Pepper said, excitedly.

Natasha beamed "Yeah, that sounds like great fun! I love it guys, thank-you so much!"

There were excited cheers from the room.

As Tony set it all up and began talking to Jarvis, Natasha asked Pepper quietly.

"Was this all your idea?"

Pepper shook her head "No, Steve was the one who thought of the karaoke machine idea for your present, and for us to throw you a surprise karaoke party. He said you love singing. You should've seen him, he was so excited when he was helping Tony and I pick it out."

Natasha turned to look at Steve, who was talking animately with Sam sat next to him on the sofa, and she beamed with happiness. He was definitely one of the good guys.

Once Stark was done with all the technical set up, he gave the karaoke microphone to Natasha, who was now stood in front of the screen, facing everyone who was sat on the sofas, all their attentions on the birthday girl.

"Okay as it is my birthday, I thought we could all write a few song suggestions each to put in a bowl, and then each of us has to pick one to sing. If you refuse to sing the song, you have to down a shot of vodka."

"Ooo I love this already!" called a very excited Darcy.

"And we'll do some group songs or duets as well too. So, everyone happy with the rules?" Natasha asked, with which everyone nodded.

"Okay, get writing!"

Everyone had a piece of paper and began writing suggestions down, tearing them up into small pieces and folded them up and put them in Iron Man's helmet, as per Tony's insistence.

Stark was laughing to himself as he put in a few ideas.

Natasha groaned "Oh god I may regret this whole game. Tony don't go too mad!"

"Just you wait!" Tony giggled.

Once everyone had put their suggestions in, Natasha opted to go first as it was her birthday. She rummaged around in the helmet and pulled out. 'Britney Spears - Baby One More Time'.

There was laughter from everyone, apart from Natasha who groaned "Oh god, no! Whose choice was this? Pepper, was this you?"

"Sorry!" Pepper hid her face with her hands for a second.

"Sing or shot, Tash?" Bruce called.

Natasha rolled her eyes "Sing."

Natasha was a very good singer, and found Britney all too easy to sing, but she really wasn't keen on that song. Stark, Clint and Sam spent most of the song giggling, thankfully the girls were all singing along with Natasha, as they were sat on the sofas watching her.

"Good job Red, okay who is next?" Stark asked, offering his Iron Man helmet out to the group.

"I'll go" Steve got out of his seat, much to everyone's surprise.

"Yeah! Come on Cap!" came the excited and surprised cheers of his fellow friends and Avengers.

"Get this over and done with" Steve laughed, before putting his hand in to get his song 'Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet'.

Stark groaned loudly, whilst the girls beamed and Steve smiled too "I actually know this one! I dodged a bullet there by the look on Stark's face."

Stark was looking so annoyed with himself, whilst Natasha beamed at Steve as the song started and she continued with her happy expression as she watched him sing. She knew Steve wasn't keen on singing in front of a group of people, and when he occasionally looked over at her when he was singing, she would wink at him, which made him smile as he sung. The whole group couldn't understand why Steve was so insecure about his singing voice, as everyone thought he was actually a decent singer.

When Cap finished, everyone applauded and he sat back down next to Sam.

"Good job buddy! Who's next?"

Jane volunteered and was happy with 'Empire State of Mind' by Alicia Keys. Bruce followed her with his rendition of 'Wake me up before you go, go' by Wham.

The entire group was crying with laughter at how enthusiastic Bruce was singing his song.

"Bruce, that was shocking!" Tony laughed, as he stood up and took the microphone from his friend to take his go.

His face plummeted to a shocking shade of white as he got 'Vogue' by Madonna, which launched the group into hysterical laughter. Tony decided to take the song in his stride though and owned the song, which only made them laugh more.

Steve took the opportunity to mock Tony as he finished the song.

"Stark, don't give up your day job for singing, please! My ears hurt!"

"Oh yeah, spangles, I dare you to have another go" he offered out the microphone to the Avengers leader.

"Alright then, challenge accepted" Steve got up from his seat, much to the surprised cheers of everyone else.

"Steve, what is going on with you, man? I love this!" Sam encouraged him, shocked that Steve wanted to sing again.

Steve picked out another song and read out "Ice Ice Baby! - Vanilla Ice."

Stark laughed so hard and jumped on the spot, punching the air "Yes! You got it!"

"Oh Tony, that's just cruel!" Pepper hit her boyfriend on the arm "Steve sit down, I'll sing it for you."

"No, no, it's okay Pepper, I'll do it." Steve then chuckled "Oh god I'm regretting this already, I don't know how to rap."

"Jarvis, please record every second of this, I want to relive it over and over again!" Tony laughed hard. But was quickly quietened by Jarvis who refused point blank to do so.

The song began and Natasha was already cringing for Steve, who got four lines in and looked so confused and lost his way. Thankfully Sam stepped up and took the microphone off him.

"Buddy, let me."

Steve gladly handed him the microphone and took a shot of vodka as he finished early, and sat in his seat on the sofa and burrowed his face into a cushion, with Stark sat across from him still laughing. Natasha came to sit in Sam's empty seat and put her hand on Steve's back, she too was laughing quietly and Steve removed the cushion to see her laughing, and he laughed too and shook his head. Everyone calmed down to listen to Sam who was incredibly good at the song. Too good in fact.

"Sam, you killed it!" Darcy said all too enthusiastically "Now my turn, my turn!" she was only too happy to get 'Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi'.

Darcy wanted to pick another song once she was finished, but Stark stopped her.

"Darcy, shall we let the God of thunder have a go?"

"I do not know any of your human songs" Thor looked puzzled "Please, Darcy, continue if you wish."

"If you don't sing Thor, you have to take a shot" Maria told him.

"I'll take three shots as recompense, and Darcy may sing again."

"Okay, but Thor you pick my song for me" Darcy picked up the helmet and offered it out to Thor, who mixed the pieces of paper and took out "MC Hammer - You Can't Touch This."

Everyone burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh my god, I _love_ whoever put that in there for Thor!" Tony cried with joy "Who was it?"

"It was me!" Darcy admitted "But now _I'm_ the one singing it, it's not so funny! I wanted Thor to get it!"

Thor looked so lost at all the laughter and turned to Jane sat next to him "What is the significance of this song with myself?"

"It's just the words 'hammer time' in it, Darcy was trying to be funny" Jane gave a slightly admirable smile at her intern.

"Darcy, I _love_ your thinking!" Stark gave her a high five "You can come here more often, wish I'd thought of that one!"

Clint sniggered "Wow I never thought we'd see the day, someone actually cleverer than you Stark!"

Tony piped up "Well why don't you sing it for Darcy, Legolas, we haven't heard you sing yet."

"Oh not a chance i'll be singing that, no way" Clint laughed, taking a swig of his beer.

"Why, are you scared you'll look stupid?" Stark teased.

"Couldn't be half as stupid as you looked earlier" Clint sniggered.

"Boys, boys, play nicely!" Pepper told them.

"Tell you what, Darcy, I'll sing it for you instead" Sam told her "I've saved Cap already tonight, I'll help you out too."

Darcy shook her head "No, it's okay. I can pull this off. I just need more of" she then downed three shots of vodka, and grabbed the microphone.

Darcy really acted up for the song and had everyone in fits of laughter, and Sam even got up to dance with her. They finished singing and dancing, and sat together on the sofa. Maria got up to sing 'What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)' by Kelly Clarkson. Pepper soon followed with 'Bohemian Rapsody' by Queen. Almost the whole group joined in the singing with the latter song.

"And last but not least, Clint it's your go!" Natasha said with a smile as she drunk her beer, before grabbing a handful of nachos out of the bowl that Steve had had in his lap for the last few moments.

Clint rolled his eyes as he read the name of the song he picked from the helmet "Frank Sinatra - My Way. Steve, I bet this was your suggestion?"

Steve nodded "Correct!"

Clint was happy enough with Steve's suggestion, after all it could've been a lot worse.

Once he finished, Natasha smiled "Right so we've all picked out of the helmet now, so anyone can sing what they want or we could do some group ones?"

Whilst people were deciding what to sing, and who to sing with, everyone was up and getting drinks and having bathroom breaks. Natasha came up to Steve as he had just walked back into the room, she beamed at him and gave him a tight hug.

Steve laughed as Natasha continued to hug him "What's this for?"

Natasha brought herself out of the hug to say "I wanted to thank-you for my present, and the whole karaoke idea. Pepper told me it was all down to you."

Steve smiled bashfully "Well, I told you I'd think of something. I'm glad you're enjoying it."

Natasha could barely keep the smile off her face "You're the best, d'ya know that?" and she kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly again.

Steve happily hugging her back, and said softly into her ear "I do now."

They hugged like this for far longer than necessary, it soon caught the attention of Maria and Sam.

"Oi, Steve, stop hugging the birthday girl will you. I've got more shots over here that need drinking!" Maria joked, holding up the tray of shot glasses that she had brought in.

Natasha and Steve broke apart from eachother and went back to join their friends at the sofas, everyone else re-joining the group too.

Tony, Clint and Sam began the singing again, with a group rendition of Mr Brightside by The Killers. Then the girls consisting of Pepper, Jane, Darcy, Natasha and Maria did Wannabe by The Spice Girls. Natasha wasn't too pleased with the choice of song, but she had been out-voted by the other girls, and they all had fun together once they were up there.

Pepper quickly persuaded Tony to do a duet straight after, and unfortunately for them the rest of the group decided it would be Aladdin - A Whole New World. Disney films were not a favourite of Tony's, and he knew he would not live this down for the rest of the evening, if not ever.

"Okay, I've done my bit, Cap your go with a duet" Tony insisted as he sat down next to Pepper.

"Me, why me?" Steve looked flummoxed.

"Because you're the leader of the Avengers, so you need to do it. Team work and all that."

Steve rolled his eyes "Okay, but how do I choose who to sing with?"

"We'll draw names out" Maria said, writing everyone's names on paper, and putting them in the now empty nachos bowl that they had on the table.

Steve rummaged around through the names with his eyes closed, and took out a piece of paper and he smiled as he saw whose name was on it.

"I suppose it's only right that the leader sings with the birthday girl."

Natasha grinned and got up to stand next to Steve, who handed her the other microphone. "What are we singing?"

"Ooo what about Time of my life?" suggested Pepper.

There were cries of agreement around the room, apart from Natasha who groaned "Oh Pepper, really?"

Steve was actually not that against the song choice "Come on Nat, we can do it. And I actually know that one."

Jane looked surprised "Didn't have you down as a Dirty Dancing fan, Cap?"

"Well Pepper puts the film on enough, and also that song really sticks in your head." He then turned to Natasha "What d'ya reckon?"

Natasha was persuaded "Go on then, as it's you."

"Don't forget to do the lift at the end!" Darcy called out.

Natasha laughed "Not a chance!"

As the song started playing loudly, Sam whispered in Pepper's ear "You're a genius! They can't ignore their feelings about eachother after singing this together."

"Why d'you think I suggested it?" Pepper said with a smirk as she whispered it back to Sam.

The two of them chuckled quietly and looked on expectantly at Steve and Natasha.

Within seconds of the song starting, Natasha and Steve became very swept up in the song. They held hands and sung at each other, dancing together as they sung and danced particularly close, especially during the break of the song where there was just the instrumental section.

"When I say drop, put your microphone down and we'll do the lift thing" Steve said into Natasha's ear, gleefully, during the instrumental break in the song.

Natasha laughed "Okay."

And a few moments later, Steve called out the word and right on cue, the two of them dropped their microphones and Natasha ran up to him and Steve lifted her up in the air, over his head. Much to the excited cries of everyone else in the room, he soon brought Natasha down onto her feet and they hugged each other tightly as the song ended.

"That was brilliant!" Pepper said, excitedly.

"We're not going to live this down are we?" Steve said, mainly to the guys.

"Not a chance!" Clint said, slapping Steve on his back with a smile.

"Does anyone else want to do another duet or shall we do a group number?" Darcy asked.

They all agreed on a group song of 'Livin' on a Prayer' by Bon Jovi, and then the girls managed to persuade the boys to do the Grease Megamix.

"Right, that's me done now!" Tony called, sitting down on the sofa, with Pepper cuddling up to his side.

"Shall we call it a day with the karaoke?" Maria asked.

"I think the birthday girl should do one more song" Thor suggested "It's only right, it's her birthday and Natasha is the best singer of the group."

"Thank-you Thor!" Natasha smiled, somewhat shyly. "Okay, I'll finish it off with one last song, what song shall it be?"

"Why don't you just pick from the ones in the helmet?" Bruce suggested "There are still a few left."

Natasha got up from the sofa "Okay, but Stark if you've put a stupid one in here I'm not doing it!"

Stark raised his hands in defence, which caused everyone to chuckle.

Natasha reached in and randomly picked out "A Thousand Years by Christina Perri."

"Oh I love that one!" Darcy said with a beaming smile. "I bet Jane wrote that one?"

Jane grinned, "I did. Sorry Nat, pick another if you want?"

Natasha got the microphone and played the song "No it's good. I actually love this song."

A few whoops of encouragement were heard as the song started, and then the room fell silent as Natasha began singing the song. She had such a beautifully soft voice, and it was like a whole different side of the Black Widow emerged as she sung the lyrics. Pepper cuddled up to Tony closer and tears sprung in her eyes as she listened to her friend singing. Jane did a similar thing with Thor, who was listening with admiration.

Bruce, however, was the first one to spot the person most affected in the room, and that was Steve. Bruce gently nudged Clint, who he was sat next to, and motioned his head in the direction of Steve. Darcy and Sam quickly cottoned on to this too, and they all looked between Steve and Natasha, watching them both with knowing smiles. The rest of the group caught on to this very quickly and tried their best not to all watch Steve's reaction to Natasha's singing.

Steve couldn't take his eyes off the red-headed assassin, he was in utter awe and tears began forming in his eyes as he took the lyrics to heart, wishing with all his being that Natasha was singing the song about him.

Natasha could barely keep her eyes off Steve as she sung, she let all her feelings pour out at the words of the song. Her heart was pounding and her emotions were trying to get the better of her. They smiled at eachother at breaks in the song, they were lost in eachother. Totally. It was as if none of the other people were in the room.

As the song ended, Natasha's eyes were glassing over and everyone stood on their feet and clapped and cheered her.

"Natasha, that was so beautiful!" Pepper cried as she came up and hugged her friend.

"You nailed it, Nat!" Sam gave her a high five, and Natasha chuckled as she could see some of the guys had tears in their eyes.

"Thanks guys. I think that'll be all the singing for tonight. That's a nice song but it's a total party mood killer."

"Oh I don't know, couldn't have ended better" Bruce smiled at the assassin.

"Oh it's not over yet" Tony said with a grin on his face "Jarvis, it's music time!"

"As you wish sir" Jarvis responded.

As the music played everyone started dancing, and getting more drinks and chatting amongst themselves.

Steve walked up to Natasha, who was about to start chatting to Pepper and Maria.

"Sorry ladies, Nat can I talk to you for a minute?" Steve couldn't hold it in any longer, he needed to talk to her.

Natasha gave a small nod and a smile, Steve took hold of her hand and walked her to the terrace area outside. Pepper and Maria looked at eachother with excited eyes and went to talk to the guys, and soon enough everyone was watching Natasha and Steve from a distance through the large windows.

It was a beautiful night, slightly cold but neither of them seemed bothered. Steve looked awfully nervous and Natasha spotted it instantly.

"What's up Steve, you look worried?"

"I'm okay ..." Steve stopped himself and gazed at her eyes, "You sang really beautifully tonight, Nat."

Natasha smiled "Thank-you, I really like that last song."

"Me too, especially when you're the one singing it."

Natasha blushed deeply, and Steve was quick to spot it. The Black Widow never blushes.

"You're going all soppy on me Steve, you keep going and you'll make the birthday girl cry."

Steve chuckled quietly "I wouldn't want to do that. But I can't apologise for speaking the truth."

"I wouldn't expect you to do anything less" Natasha smiled sweetly at him.

"Whilst we're on the subject of honesty" Steve began, his pulse racing "I wanted to say something to you…something which has been on my mind for so long now and I need to tell you."

"What is it?" she smiled, encouragingly, half nervous but half curious.

"Well I don't know how to say it really…not really had that much experience with this kind of thing…but Natasha…I mean…you're so…you're amazing. And I want you to know how much you mean to me. You mean so much." He reached up tentatively and cupped her cheek with his hand "Natasha, I've fallen in love with you."

Natasha's eyes were filling with tears and she smiled the biggest smile "The feeling is entirely mutual, Steve. I love you too." And she kissed him fully on the lips, Steve deepened it and wrapped his arms around her waist.

The entire party had been watching them from inside and were now cheering with happiness.

"I called it!" Stark announced.

"You so did _not_ call it" Clint argued, and many of the group began arguing about the bets they had made about their Avenger team mates getting together.

Luckily for the pair in question, they couldn't hear a thing, and were too wrapped up in eachother to notice.

Once they broke apart, they couldn't stop smiling.

"You've made me very happy" Natasha told Steve, linking her arms around his neck.

"The pleasure is all mine, I was so worried about telling you. I know I should've done it sooner and I should've done a big romantic gesture..."

"No, it was perfect" Natasha reassured him, "I'm glad you said something, I wanted to tell you for so long too."

"Why didn't you?" Steve asked, softly.

"I was scared. Scared you wouldn't feel the same way." But she put more sentiment behind her next words "I'm a broken person, Steve. I don't deserve to be this happy."

Steve cupped her cheek "Please don't say that, Nat. You're a good person. I don't care about what you did in the past, that's water under the bridge. You're one of the strongest people I know, and one of the most amazing. You are the most important person in my life, and you deserve every happiness as much as anyone, if not more so."

Natasha had tears in her eyes "I thought you said you didn't want to make the birthday girl cry?" she chuckled.

Steve chuckled too, before kissing her forehead and hugged her tightly, smelling her hair "I love you Natasha Romanoff."

Natasha brought them out of the hug and smiled "I love you too."

They kissed again and remained that way for a long time, before coming back to reality and smiling.

"Shall we go back inside and face the bear pit?" Natasha suggested.

Steve laughed "Come on then."

He took hold of her hand, the two of them smiling, and they returned back into the room and everyone else gave excited cheers.

"Congratulations!" Pepper called excitedly.

"I guess you saw it all then?" Steve asked, shaking his head with a grin.

"Damn right we did!" Sam joyfully gave his two friends a hug "We're all so happy for you."

"Yeah, took your time" Clint smirked at them both. "I'm glad you finally admitted it to her, Cap."

"You knew?!" Natasha asked, surprised.

"Of course! Everyone in this tower knew!" Clint continued "And I knew you both knew, but you were too stupid enough to admit it to each other."

Natasha and Steve just looked at each other and laughed, Steve putting his arm around Natasha and kissed the side of her head. The two of them were too happy for words.


End file.
